A Critique of Australia’s G20 Presidency and the Brisbane Summit 2014

Susan Harris Rimmer

The Australian National University

03/07/2015

This article seeks to evaluate Australia as host of the Brisbane G20 Summit in 2014. The
Australian G20 government, it appears, aimed to move the G20 from focusing on just
responding to the financial crisis to a future growth orientation concentrating on structural
reforms. To achieve this, Australia chose a narrow economic approach to the agenda. The
Presidency sought to avoid engaging with broader security or climate change challenges.
This effort to narrow focus and move away from a “war cabinet” approach met, however,
with quite mixed success. A strong performance at the regulatory level, an emphasis on economic
fundamentals and a place-branding approach to the Leaders’ Summit, all efforts of
the Australian host, appear to have been insufficient for Australia’s G20 Presidency. Three
additional factors seem necessary for a middle power like Australia to have impact on hosting
the Leaders’ Summit: